Let off by an understanding scalie

JUST about every truckie you speak to claims they have had a bad experience with a scalie or police officer when pulled over.

Tales of being breached for minor log book errors to being abused are often heard by Spy when he yarns to drivers.

So it was with some surprise when Spy was sitting out the back of a big roadhouse having a dim sim and heard of a scalie with a heart.

A 35-year-old truckie said he was pulled over in early September during a blitz on trucks at Rollingstone.

"I had filled out my logbook but had the totals for rest and driving in the wrong places. This road transport officer noticed and it told me I should correct them or risk being booked. He let me off," the driver said on September 14.

The driver said he thanked his lucky stars after hearing cases of many other truckies who had not been so lucky.

Weight loss explained

A MIDDLE-AGED New South Wales truckie pulled up at a roadhouse and Spy noticed he had lost about 25kg in weight.

The last time Spy saw this gent was about six months ago and he tipped the scales at 87kg then.

Now the superfit-looking driver weighs in at 62kg and has a new lease on life.

Spy had to ask the reason why the 57-year-old had won the battle of the bulge.

"I stopping eating takeaways and cook my own food on a single burner stove I carry. I buy my own food as I go and drink mineral water," he said.

He did however mention that on his time off, he still gets down to the local for a coldie or 10.

Lost wheel

FROM a Western Australian truckie with a genuine sense of humour comes this ripper.

He tells of listening to his radio whilst on the highway and hearing several truckies speaking of seeing a rig which had an obvious loose wheel.

"Soon after another truckie got on the radio and he was singing a song," our informant said.

The words of the song were "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel," - a version of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings' "You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille."

Truckies' votes count

THE Northern Territory elections are over and the state of roads were major issues for a lot of voters.

Spy is not into politics but can say people in the road transport industry well and truly had their say at the ballot boxes.

Improvements to the Central Arnhem Hwy and upgrades to the Mainorou, Goyder River and Donydji Creek crossings were at the forefront.

Dream big

YOU see many apt names, signs or captions written on the front or sides of trucks around this great country.

One which Spy found pretty good was on a Kenworth.

On the front were the words "Big Dream" and smaller writing on the side "Work Hard Dream Big."

Spy was enjoying a kabana and a crumbed sausage when the Kenworth arrived and later saw some tourists snapping pics of the writing.

Mistaken identity

IN March a truckie from Deeragun in north Queensland won $3,619,064.in a Powerball draw.

Not surprisingly the truckie wanted to remain anonymous.

But another driver who lives in the area has been wrongly recognised as the big winner.

"Some have asked me to buy a house or car for them," he told Spy.

"It wasn't me and I wish it was," he told Spy.

Preacher's message

WE ALSO hear of a veteran truckie who had surgery to the top of his head to remove a melanoma.

In the weeks after the operation the truckie had a round white covering placed on the wound.

Soon colleagues started calling him the "Pontiff" or the "Preacher".

Whilst that has amused him the truckie said the moral of his personal incident should be a message to everybody.